Politics of Nigeria's Electoral Law

 

By EDDY OCHIGBO

The electoral process remains a key pillar of especially nascent democracies. This is more so because it is the only legitimate process that produces elected leaders across all levels of governance. The hallmark of democracy is in its transparency, fairness and credibility.

However, in Nigeria our electoral process has been characterized by both institutional and process rigging. Political parties and candidates have continued to take advantage of the nation's weak legal frameworks to rig elections. Even at the level of Tribunal, Appeal and Supreme courts, technicalities take advantage of lacunas to uphold rigged elections.

This cannot be unconnected with the poor quality of leaders the system is producing. Elections are no longer a popularity contest based on credibility, competence and sensitivity to the plight of the poor. It is now for the highest bidder with enough resources to subvert the process. Little wonder that election thuggery, snatching of ballot, ballot stuffing and violence are seemingly being endorsed by our lawmakers as is evident in their voting against electronic transmission of votes.

It is not surprising that each time the electoral act is subjected to amended, it stirs up intense politicking. In 2018, the National Assembly passed a new Electoral Act. The Bill passed was meant to guide the conduct of the 2019 General Elections. Some of the laudable amendments sought to check the cost of politics; prohibit  political parties from imposing additional requirements for the nomination of candidates outside those contained under the 1999 Constitution; increase the amounts allowed for campaign expenses for all categories of aspirants; use of technological innovations among others.

However, the new Electoral Act fell victim of partisan political shenanigans, as the President refused to assent to it. The president, citing a number of concerns, vetoed  the Electoral Act bill to the chagrin of the electorate and critical stakeholders. However, many civil society actors and opposition parties attributed this to the unwillingness of the president's party to change a flawed system that brought them to power. This should also be considered from the context that the then 8th Assembly, under the leadership of Senator Bukola Saraki, had a running battle with the presidency, a far cry from the current Ahmad Lawan-led Senate.

Again, the current amendment process of the Electoral Act also caught public attention and ended up being a partisan battle, between the All Progressive Congress (APC) and People's Democracy Party (PDP), to take the advantage off the opponent. The contention being the Committee report, which recommended in Section 52(3) that, INEC “may transmit results of elections by electronic means where and when practicable.”

Senator Sabi Abdullahi proposed for an amendment to the clause, which was that the commission may consider electronic collation of results provided the national network coverage is adjudged to be adequate and secured by the NCC. While, Senator Bassey Akpan, held the same recommendation as the INEC Committee that presented the report, which had indicated that INEC may transmit results of elections by electronic means where and when practicable and at its discretion.

This sharply divided both chambers of the National Assembly along partisan lines, as the APC legislators voted against the amendment, while those from the PDP voted in its favor. Dramatically, after the voice vote, which was ruled in favor of the Nays, the Minority Leader in the Senate challenged the ruling by the President of the Senate calling for order 73 which means division.

This was a fast one played by the Minority Leader to expose the identity of those opposed to electronic transmission. In the end, 52 Senators voted for Abdullahi’s amendment while 28 voted for Akpan’s amendment and 28 were absent, making a total number of 80 votes out of 109 Senators. Many of those that rejected the amendment have been heavily criticized by the court of public opinion.

One only wonders why our politicians cannot look beyond partisanship and work collectively to improve the quality of the electoral system. As 2023 elections draw near, mischievous politicians are working hard to manipulate the process and rig themselves to power. This is totally unacceptable.